Should Animals be Kept in Zoos?

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Zoos claim to educate people and preserve species, but they usually fall short on both counts. Most zoo enclosures are cramped and barren. Rather than promoting respect for or understanding of animals, signs often provide little more info rmation than an animal’s diet, and natural range. Animals’ normal behavior is seldom discussed, much less observed, because their natural needs are rarely met. Birds’ wings may be clipped so that they cannot fly, aquatic animals often go without adequate space to accommodate their natural swimming patterns, and many animals who   live in large herds or family groups in the wild are kept alone or, at most, in pairs. Natural hunting and mating behaviors are virtually eliminated by regulated feeding and breeding regimens. Animals are closely confined, lack privacy, and have little opportunity for mental stimulation or physical exercise. These conditions often result in “zoochosis”—abnormal and self-destructive behaviors such as pacing, swaying, self mutilation, and excessive licking. An Oxford University study based on four decades of observing animals in captivity and in the wild found that animals such as polar bears, lions, tigers, and cheetahs “show the most evidence of stress and/or psychological dysfunction in captivity” and concluded that “the keeping of naturally wide-ranging carnivores should be either fundamentally improved or phased out.”